Published on: 6/26/2025
What symptoms should I look for if I suspect I have narcolepsy?
If you are wondering if you have narcolepsy, you can start by looking for symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness. These symptoms include having the sudden urge to sleep even after getting a full night's sleep or falling asleep in the middle of eating, working, or talking with someone. To be certain about a diagnosis of narcolepsy, you will need to consult a healthcare provider. This healthcare provider will provide a personalized assessment of your symptoms to determine if you have narcolepsy.
Explanation
Narcolepsy is a type of sleep disorder. The most common symptom is excessive daytime sleepiness, where you feel very tired during the day even after a good night's sleep. Excessive daytime sleepiness can also cause you to fall asleep in the middle of eating, working, or talking with someone.
Other symptoms can affect people with narcolepsy, but not everyone with narcolepsy will experience the following symptoms: cataplexy (which is a sudden loss of muscle control, often triggered by strong emotions like laughter, surprise, or anger); sleep paralysis (which is when a person briefly can't move or speak when falling asleep or waking up); and hallucinations (which are vivid dream-like experiences -- for people with narcolepsy, hallucinations tend to happen as people fall asleep or wake up).
To be certain about a diagnosis of narcolepsy, you will need to consult a healthcare provider. This healthcare provider will provide a personalized assessment of your symptoms. Also, the healthcare provider may recommend sleep-related testing that would confirm a diagnosis of narcolepsy. More information about narcolepsy is available at https://sleepeducation.org/sleep-disorders/narcolepsy/.
(References)
- Aldrich MS. (1998). Diagnostic aspects of narcolepsy. Neurology, 9484416.
- Chakravorty SS, & Rye DB. (2003). Narcolepsy in the older adult: epidemiology, diagnosis and .... Drugs & aging, 12696996.
- Coelho FMS. (2024). Narcolepsy: an interface among neurology, immunology, .... Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria, 38565187.
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